The invention relates generally to shocking devices for livestock and people. More particularly, it is useful for training and controlling people and all kinds of animals.
The use of electrical shocking devices is widespread, reliable shocking devices being recognized as being a humane technique for handling livestock and people by many veterinarians, humane societies, medical personnel and law enforcement officers. Livestock prods are recognized as providing an effective and efficient technique for moving and training animals by many ranchers, farmers, meat packers and animal trainers. Electrical shocking devices for people are useful and accepted by behavior modification laboratories and many law enforcement people for training and controlling people and for personal protection. Shocking devices are commonly used in medical and psychiatric therapy.
Although electrical shocking devices have been in use for many years, they have not achieved optimum satisfaction.
It is known, for example, from the U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,465 to provide an electrical livestock prod with a pair of probes, adapted to contact the hide or skin of an animal, voltage to the probes being supplied from a transformer, which has its primary winding connected to a battery via make-and-break contacts. An electromagnetic relay is provided for effecting movement of the contacts. Such an arrangement has a number of drawbacks. The electromagnetic relay requires a core of considerable size and weight, as well as an energizing current source of substantial volume. The contacts too, tend to pit, wear out, become easily fouled with dirt and dust, and must be regularly adjusted. Such devices are easily damaged by shock and moisture and usually have short battery life.
Other electrical livestock prods are known which include a pair of probes for supplying electric shocks to an animal, voltages to the probes being supplied via a transformer which has its primary winding connected to a blocking oscillator. These known prods have the disadvantage of requiring a relatively large transformer, suffer from low output current which produces shock levels insufficient for control or training. These devices require a direct current source of considerable volume and are usually large and clumsy to handle and store.